


The Taming of The Lu

by xiumiaou



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Fluff, Genderbending, M/M, Maybe some angst, Other, Romance, Romantic Comedy, XiuHan - Freeform, fem!xiumin, luhan tops, lumin - Freeform, xiumin is a girl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-30
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-04-06 23:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4240953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiumiaou/pseuds/xiumiaou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The stepson of the King, Prince Luhan, is all set to inherit the throne. There's only one problem: the kingdom thinks he just isn't royal enough for the position. The solution? An arranged marriage with the pure, blue-blooded and proper Princess Min from the neighboring kingdom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Luhan wasn’t born into royalty. He had grown up in a completely ordinary cottage in one of the far-flung provinces of the kingdom with a farmers son as a best friend and a pet mouse he’d named Xiao Lu of all things. Judging him just based on appearance, this wouldn’t have been apparent, not with his princely good looks, pristine clothes, well coifed hair and bright intelligent eyes all demanding that the owner of them be given the respect and attention he deserved. All Luhan had to do to break all that was to open his mouth.

“What the fuck?!” 

The King sniffed, affronted as the Queen tutted at him fondly and petted him like he was still the little boy she thought he was. “Language, Luhan.” she admonished. Luhan gritted his teeth and shrugged her off.

“I am not marrying some royal snob!” he grit out, his mind already conjuring up the image of a too pale, too proper slip of a girl with no mind of her own asking him whether he liked jasmine or chamomile tea better, as if it mattered. As if Luhan even liked something as bland as tea. 

“You don’t even know her, Luhan.” his father tried reasoning with him as Luhan turned his attention to the dainty teacups in front of him filled with the said offending liquid and tried blaming it for all his woes in the world. “She might not be a snob. I heard she’s a very sweet girl.”

“You heard?” Luhan hissed, looking up, his eyes turning into slits. “You don’t even know, you just heard? You haven’t even met her…fuck…you probably haven’t even seen her in real life yet haven’t you?” 

His parents guilty expressions was all he needed to know he wasn’t wrong. He stood up with all the intent to stomp off and sulk, maybe throw a tantrum, maturity be damned, but his mother chose this moment to speak up in a pleading voice that froze Luhan in his spot.

“Please, Luhan. We need this marriage. You know what the people think of us.” Luhan felt a twinge, remembering all the times he’d spent with the nobles treating him nicely in front of him only to whisper behind his back about ‘that peasant prince, that unworthy baseborn who would undoubtedly ruin us all the moment he inherited the crown.’ He tried not to show how rattled he was that the public probably thought of him the same way too. His mind was already a mess contemplating this but his mother continued, “Princess Min is the crown princess of her country, and her visit tomorrow is very important for our kingdom, a match with her and anything that results from it….you know the public would love it.”  
The ‘public would finally accept you’ part was not said but Luhan heard it anyway. He turned his head away to hide his expression but his parents had already seen.

“Luhan…” , his father began but Luhan was already out the door, running with a heavy heart and tears in his eyes that he was just managing to suppress knowing anybody who would see would mock him for them behind closed doors. Nobody respected him in this palace. Not the visiting nobles who looked down at him like he was dirt beneath his feet nor the guards who played games instead or watching over him as was their duty, not even his chambermaid, who’d taken one look at his threadbare peasant clothes and thrown them all away without even telling him.

So he left.

 

 

 

“Prince Luhan?” 

Luhan groaned and threw a twig in the direction of the voice that broke his thoughts. He‘d been sprawled over his favorite boulder in the forest closest to the castle for who knows how long, with the water of the nearby lake lapping at the tips of his robes that would make the royal tailor scream in dismay, but it looked like it was dark now and for the first time Luhan started to feel guilty for leaving, thinking of how worried his parents might be. “I told you not to call me that, Yixing.” Luhan sounded irritated but he knew Yixing would pick up on the slump of his shoulders and know he was relieved his friend had showed up as well. 

“Sorry, habit.” Yixing grinned sheepishly and dropped down beside him, peering into his face with curious eyes. “What’s bothering you today?

“How do you know something’s bothering me? Don’t tell me they announced it already?”

“Announced what?” 

Yixing looked genuinely confused so Luhan felt significantly better, although the other boy did look like that a lot of the time but he was going to try to forget that just this once for his own sake. 

“I’m going to get married.” Yixing’s face didn’t even get a chance to react before Luhan was up on his feet and flinging all he could get his hands on into the lake, splashing water everywhere and startling the fish. 

“Married! Me! Imagine! I’m too young to be tied down like this!” Luhan wailed and flopped down to the ground, uncaring of how he might have looked to his friend as he started gathering stones in sweeping motions with his arms and hugged them to his chest as he let out noises of distress that didn’t sound altogether human anymore.

“It can’t be that bad.” YIxing tried to comfort him but was to bewildered by his friends actions to bother approaching him. What if Luhan started throwing rocks at him instead? It wasn’t too impossible for that to happen. “Do you know who Mrs. Lu is gonna be?”

Luhan cursed at him and threw a twig in his direction. (Yixing was right to be worried after all) “Never say that again!” he shrieked. “Whoever she is, she isn’t going to be Mrs. Lu, not if I can help it.” 

In his mind Luhan was already coming up with all sorts of plans to get out of the engagement. Maybe his parents wouldn’t be able to announce it. Maybe he’d act as repulsive as possible and then no princess would ever want to even think about marrying him again. Yixing seemed to understand the expression on the face of his best friend and he leaned in, smiling conspiratorially.

“So what’s the plan?”

 

 

 

The plan, as it turned out, started with a bucket.

Admittedly it wasn’t the most creative of plans but Luhan wasn’t exactly a creative person so this would have to do.  
Phase one of the plan began with him and Yixing scouring the grounds trying to catch green slimy frogs. “She’s a girl.” He’d explained matter-of-factly to Yixing as he crawled through the ground, getting mud on his clothes and twigs in his hair, his eyes darting around wildly in search of his prey. “Girls hate frogs.”

Yixing hummed, hugging the bucket closer to himself as he walked behind his friend, absently wondering why the other man was crawling at all. He was glad it was dark. “She’ll be here tomorrow, do you really think we can fill this up by then?” 

Luhan scoffed. “Don’t you trust my hunting skills?”

“I remember this one time with when you elbowed yourself and fell of your horse when we were-”

Luhan shot him a glare and Yixing quickly shut up.

“I trust you and your hunting skills?” he said instead, in a form of apology and Luhan accepted it with a smile and the puffing out of his chest.  
Two hours later and the only thing they’ve managed to catch was one grasshopper (“Girls are scared of bugs too!“) that had only been in their captivity for maybe a minute and a half before the bucket was knocked over when Luhan pounced at something he thought was a frog (it turned out to be a mossy rock). Luhan was starting to get very distraught. 

“I’m going to get married! Married! What if she’s ugly? What if she smells like Uncle Yin He on a bad day?! Heavens, Yixing” Luhan gripped Yixing and shook him. “What if she forces me to drink tea?!”

Yixing blinked at him slowly. 

“We can fill it up with mud.”

“Mud?” Luhan widened his eyes.

“Yeah…you know….when you mix soil and water you get this thing that’s-”

Luhan looked like he had just been struck, not letting Yixing finish his sentence and tackling him to the ground as he yelled exultantly. “Mud! Yes! Zhang Yixing you are a genius!”

Yixing was left blinking up at the empty space where Luhan used to be as the other boy had grabbed the bucket and dashed out of sight to fill it up with mud. Yixing was starting to think this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

 

 

 

Phase two of the plan required a little bit of handiness and stealth. Both of which both Luhan and Yixing lacked. So Luhan enlisted the help of the one other person in the palace who could stand him and his antics. The chief of the Royal guard.

“Why do you need a pulley, Your Highness?” Yifan asked even as he fiddled with the ropes, the contraption already starting to come closer to what Luhan had in mind. Luhan rubbed his hands together with glee, not noticing the worried looks his two accomplishes exchanged.  
“Princely things. Very important.” 

“Uh-huh.” YIfan finished knotting the ropes together and he tugged it, lifting the bucket into the air and letting it hide away among the many elaborate dragon carvings running along the ceiling of the deserted main hall (courtesy of Yifan who had assigned his guards elsewhere). “Well whatever it is, remember Prince, I was never here.” 

“I promise.” Luhan said solemnly, observing how Yifan tied the rope to a knob of wood to keep it in place and then making sure it was right above the place where the King always received his guests. He elbowed Yixing and gestured in a way he thought was subtle and Yixing nodded his understanding. He knew what part he was going to play in this madness.

“Anyway,” Yifan cleared his throat and straightened up, giving them a stiff salute before turning to leave “Good luck, Your Highnesss.”

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” YIxing asked him later as they tested out the ropes to see if it would work. 

“Crystal.” Luhan had a gleam in his eye as he looked down at the vast hall that was going to be filled with the foreign dignitaries from his fiance-to-be’s kingdom within a few hours. He was going to make sure none of them would ever want him for a husband. Everything was going as planned.

 

 

 

 

Luhan had many other plans of course. Plans that he could start pulling off at any moment if the mud shower wasn’t enough to deter the sweet, sweet girl Princess Min was supposed to be away from his life. He didn’t really think that he had to bother with them though because if he knew princesses, (and he thought he knew them quite well) image, dignity and propriety were all things that were very important to them. Threaten even just one of those and they were bound to be insulted. He was certain being doused by a bucketful of mud in front of everybody would do all that. 

One couldn’t be so sure though, and Luhan was smart. So even as he sat in his small throne next to the King in his stuffy, starched clothes of gold and blue and his hair pulled back so tight with golden pins and gems that signified his status, he still thought about all the things he could do to stop this. He knew any moment now the foreign contingent were going to burst through those doors before him to present Princess Min from the Great Kingdom of Silla and it was taking all his self-control to not just bolt out of the room and not come back. One glance at his father though was enough to discourage any more thoughts on that line of action.

Subtly, he took an ornate yellow ball from his pocket and rolled it with his fingers, his eyes flicking up to the rafters where he knew Yixing was watching him. This was going to be their signal. He would drop the ball. Yixing would cut the rope and flee. The mud would fall. Luhan had front row seats to what would happen next. He only hoped things would go smoothly.  
When the doors finally opened Luhan completely froze, feeling like his heart was about to burst from his chest as his eyes darted from face to face, dread already scratching up his throat and making his legs jitter until he finally saw someone garbed in vivid flowing silks, her hair done in an elaborate braid that was adorned in gold accessories that tinkled as she walked. He couldn’t see her face though as she had her head bowed down but once she’d finally stopped in front of them she looked up and smiled a smile that made Luhan’s heart stop.

Faintly, Luhan heard as she was announced by her guard, “Princess Min of the Silla’ and a barrage of other titles she held and her ancestors and other things that Luhan simply could not pay attention to when an angel was standing right in front of him. He took in her sharp beautiful eyes and the delicate curve of her cheeks, the rosy tint of her pout and stared and stared until his eyes were wide as saucers. 

He was only brought out of his daze when the princess finally stepped forward and curtsied gracefully to them. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness.” she said in the most beautiful voice he ever heard.

Luhan died a little inside and the ball slipped through his sweaty trembling fingers and bounced down to the floor. 

Luhan gasped and cursed loudly as he shot up from his seat, shocking everyone in attendance as he rushed forward, the first drops of mud dripping on the princesses’ head and making her look up with wide eyes. Luhan screamed at her to move out of the way but it was too late.

A bucketful of mud splashed down on the woman that could possibly be the love of Luhan’s life.

‘Shit.’


	2. Two.

Luhan was ten when he first confessed to a girl he liked. 

Her name was Mei and she was the daughter of a close family friend. Every weekend she and her mother would come visit and while their moms could while the day away just drinking tea and chatting, Luhan would grab Mei’s hand and together they’d run out to the fields behind his house. Normally they’d spend the day catching dragonflies and playing tag or hide and seek, but not on that day. That day was a very special Sunday and Luhan had something else in mind.

Mei had been confused when Luhan had lead her away from their usual spot and towards the bank of the river instead but Luhan had been tight-lipped to her questions. Heavy in his pocket was a doll he’d made out of odds and ends around the house. It wasn’t the best looking of dolls but Luhan had hoped that his effort into making it would show and Mei would approve. What Luhan intended to do was bring Mei to the most romantic spot he knew, which in this case was this rock by the river that was surrounded by pretty flowers, then he’d give her his little gift and confess with a speech he’d practiced all night before.

It had all played out so well in Luhan’s mind, only, when he climbed up on his rock it had been more slippery than he’d expected and when he’d done a quick turn to face her he’d lost his balance and then next thing he knew he was being tossed and pulled down by the strong currents of the frigid river, He took in mouthfuls of water as he tried gasping for breath, his short limbs to weak and heavy to fight against the current that brought him farther and farther away from his friend. His lungs burned and he was sinking faster than he could push himself up and he was just about to give up when suddenly strong arms were hauling him up and he was being dragged on to the solid ground as he gasped in sweet sweet air. 

Later those same strong arms would be carrying him back to his home with a crying Mei trailing along after them. 

Maybe from then on Luhan should have learned that he should swear completely off of planning anything, because he was terrible at it and it wasn’t the first time horrible things had come out of his plans.

But the thing is, things didn’t really end up so horrible. After all, his savior later turned out to be the King himself. Unlikely as it was, this is where the love story between the king and his mother sprung up, instigating controversies and shock everywhere in the kingdom. Imagine: A widow and the King himself embarking in a forbidden romance, what a scandal it was to the masses. but this isn’t their story. This is the story of what happened after…which somehow lead to a grown-up Luhan nervously pacing down the length of his bed as he wrung out his hands fretting about another one of his plans gone all wrong. Or rather…had gone right, in all the wrong ways.

The moment his mother entered the room was both the moment he was dreading and looking forward to at the same time.

“The princess has locked herself in her room.” she tells him solemnly. “And she won’t let anybody talk to her.” 

Luhan groaned and threw himself on the bed. “I’m a failure at life. Kill me mother.”

The normally regal woman sat by his bed and sighed, “What were you even thinking Luhan?”

Luhan whimpered. “Wrong things.” he turned himself over and blinked sullenly up at the ceiling, recalling the way the princesses eyes had filled up with tears, and then anger before she’d finally stormed away with her gaggle of guests trailing after her shooting him dirty glances. He wailed again and started punching his pillow. 

In the background he heard his mother sigh once more.

“You should go apologize, Luhan.” 

He peeked up at her. “But you just told me she wouldn’t leave her room…how do I--” he started but his mother cut him off.

“If you can find a way to rig a bucket of mud over the princess then I’m sure you can find a way to say sorry to her.”

Luhan suddenly felt very very small and ashamed of himself.

“Yes, mother.” This seemed to satisfy her and she thanked him before leaving the room, leaving Luhan to take out his papers, holding the bamboo pen trembling over them as he finally started to plan. 

Maybe this time things won’t turn out so bad.

 

 

 

 

“Princesses like flowers.” Luhan told Yixing enthusiastically as they walked through the royal gardens together. He was too busy looking through his blooms to notice the wary stare his friend leveled at him.

“Yes…?” was Yixing’s only reply and it was almost a question, of Luhan’s motives and thoughts and existence in general but Luhan didn’t hear that and took it as encouragement instead.

This lead to the two of them peeking around the corner of the corridor as the nervous looking wide-eyed servant , handmaid or whatever (Luhan wasn’t so sure himself) from Princess Min’s entourage stood at the door for the princess’ quarters.

She had been very very unwilling to be part of this hare-brained plan but Luhan had persisted

 

_  
_

(

 

“But your highness--” the servant-girl-hand-maid-person he’d cornered had protested, shaking her head frantically and trying to push away the armful of flowers Luhan was forcing on her. “Princess Min is--”

“Please please please please please please!” Luhan had begged repeatedly until he’d narrowed his eyes and finally decided to use his authority. “I will be your King soon.” he had tried to spook the other with a false authoritative voice. “You need to follow my orders."

The servant-girl-hand-maid-person sighed and threw a glare at him before finally accepting the flowers. “Fine.”

 

)

 

The girl knocked on the door with her elbow, the varieties of colorful chrysanthemums overwhelming her slight frame and Luhan held his breath, hope rising up inside of him at the thought of making amends with the love of his life. Only a few seconds later the door opened to reveal the princess in all her fresh beauty and grace and it was just so much more than what Luhan remembered of her and it had him stumbling back into Yixing, who let out a yelp that almost made him miss the moment when the princess sneezed.

And then she sneezed again.

“Kyungsoon!” she whined, covering the lower half of her face to Luhan’s dismay as it blocked out the view he was enjoying so much as she continued her cute little sneezes. “What is the meaning of this? You know I’m allergic to flowers!” 

Luhan felt his heart sink. 

“I tried to tell him, your highness, but Prince Luhan insisted.” the traitor named Kyungsoon said as she shot a look in Luhan’s direction, a look Luhan knew Princess Min wouldn’t miss. He cursed under his breath. He’d underestimated that little servant girl.

Luhan wasn’t able to read the expression on Princess Min’s face for the split second she’d glanced in his direction before he hid himself away behind the wall again but the tone of her voice was very disheartening when she said: “Take them away please, Kyungsoon. I can’t breathe.” granted she was fighting back her sneezes when she was speaking but Luhan didn’t feel too good about that either.

Later when he and Yixing had escaped back to his room, Luhan dramatically crumpled down to the floor. “Who did I kill in my past life to deserve this, Yixing?”

 

Yixing didn't answer that question then but by the way the next events unfolded, Luhan was sure the answer was, at the very least, a civilization or two. Through the next few days Luhan found out quite a lot about the princess in very unfortunate ways. His gift of an adorable fluffy kitten ("because she reminds me of your soft features and sharp stunning eyes, oh beautiful one" said a note attached to the collar) was met with screams. The note attached never being read.

 

_  
_

(

 

"The Princess was attacked by a cat when she was young." a foreign noble lord that resembled a cat himself, told him with a smirk as Luhan shrunk into himself. "Tell me truthfully prince, are you trying to woo our princess? Or are you trying to kill her?

 

)

 

His next attempts were just as successful and before he knew it the week was coming to a close and by this time he knew that the Princess hated him for sure. 

Luhan’s mother wasn’t pleased with him at all.

“Luhan.” she sighed, her voice laden with so much resignation and disappointment that she didn’t need to say anything else to get her point across. The servants that were carefully braiding her hair and setting out the fine china in front of the queen hid their snickers behind their hands. Tales of his failed plans to woo the princess had gotten around the castle and some stories were even more outrageous than what had actually happened and that was a feat in itself. Luhan wanted to bury himself and never be seen again. 

“I’m sorry mother.” Luhan whimpered out and did a full bow to her as she let out another sigh and set a teacup down in front of him.

“I have set up a meeting.” She told him and he straightened up to listen. “Normally in engagements like this the two of you would have already met several times before this to acquaint yourselves but with how you’ve acted…” she trailed off and leveled Luhan with a look that made him feel more guilty than he already did. He whimpered out another apology and she sighed for the nth time and continued. “ Tomorrow you and the princess will be meeting formally in the royal gardens. You will apologize, as you should have done from the beginning, face to face and pour her tea for her as a mark of your atonement and guilt and hopefully she will accept.”

“But what if she doesn’t?” Luhan interrupted, making the servants gasp at his rudeness but the queen waved them away.

“Then it is no one’s fault but your own.”

Luhan would protest but the judging eyes of the servants still watching their exchange kept him quiet. Just those looks were enough to strengthen up his resolve. He’d fix this, he swore to himself, even if it was the last thing that he did.

 

 

The princess sat before Luhan on a chintz pillow, she was ethereal or Luhan thought so anyway, even when she was eyeing him suspiciously as politely as she could. If he’d taken the time to stop admiring her facial features he would have realized that she had been looking around the area with an air of nervousness, as if she was afraid. 

“Prince Lu.” she spoke to him first in slightly accented mandarin that was adorable, making him straighten his spine and widen his eyes which seemed to raise her suspicions even higher “I trust...that there are no surprise...gifts...for me today?” 

Luhan felt his face heat up and he found himself nodding quickly. “Of-of course princess. None today. No. Today. Tea. Yes.” he said and then turned even redder. Where did his brain even go?

The princess looked at him confused. “Do you not speak mandarin, Prince Lu?” she asked with a cute pout. “It is only that which I have studied…” 

“No! No! I mean...i do. Sorry.” he managed to squeak out and the princess did not seem to believe him. Luhan wanted to start banging his head on the table between them but he figured that would damage her opinion of him even more so he stopped himself. 

The attendants today were almost his life savers as they flowed towards the table and started laying out the teapots and cups that Luhan hated so much, but today he would make an exception just for his princess. Anything to win her heart.

“Princess Min, do you know of this custom of our kingdom?” he asked, carefully choosing his words as the attendants moved away to stand along the corners of the garden hedges and he began to make the tea with precise fluid movements that he’d practiced all night. “Tea is very important to us and the pouring of tea for another person can be used as a symbol of apology. I hope that today you would accept it as a symbol of mine.” 

He looked up from his careful tea brewing and felt his heart drop when he saw her slightly tilted head and the little curl of her lips.

“Did you really think a bit of tea would be enough, Prince Lu?” she asked him in an overly friendly voice that didn’t seem to fit with her words.

Luhan gulped. “I had hoped so…”

He shakily poured the tea into the cups as the princess hummed and for all intents and purposes looked as innocent and harmless as a flower.

“Prince Lu, if you had bothered to meet me in person and apologized I would have forgiven you in a heartbeat.” she told him as she accepted the cup she gave him. “But now?” She took a sip of the tea and made a face. “Now, Prince Lu, you’re going to have to watch your back.”  
Luhan spilled his tea on himself a little and gulped.

“And i hate tea.” She said as she set down her cup and gave him an innocent smile. 

 

 

 

Later the queen and king arrived and the princess had acted her sweetest and most angelic to them with all sincerity, it was only with Luhan that her word seemed to take on double meaning and edged poison. She looked at him with suspicion even as she smiled beautifully. The meeting had ended successfully in his parents eyes but Luhan had an edging feeling that he was about to die and that it was his fault.

Luhan had only one thing to say to Yixing however, once they were in the comfort of his own sitting room.

“Yixing! Yixing you won’t believe it!”

“Did she forgive you?”

“No! But get this, she hates tea! We’re made for each other! It’s only a matter of time!”

“Oh Luhan….”


	3. Three.

The next days are busy for Luhan, busy enough that he didn’t get to see his princess no matter how much he wanted to. His father, the King, had finally decided to start including him in council meetings which usually included the ministers, other top-ranking officials and oddly enough that same cat-like man Luhan had met before. Luhan didn’t know what he was there for, perhaps as a representative of their own kingdom, he thought. Sitting amongst all those old men with their heavily jeweled armor and their long beards, Luhan felt incredibly out of place. The cat-like noble was smirking at him from the other side of the table, a glint in his eye and Luhan hadn’t yet decided if he should be glad for the familiar face or not.

The ministers were busy talking about some betrothal that had happened recently, Luhan hadn’t really been paying attention but he’d gathered that it was between some southern prince and a western princess. All the men around the table seemed to be agitated about this but he couldn’t really understand what was so worrying about it. He himself had just been betrothed too after all, but he didn’t let himself think too much on that, he was already distracted enough and if he started thinking about his princess he wouldn’t be able to stop.

He shook his head and tried to focus, he didn’t want to disappoint his father.

“-to dangerous levels. The South has never been our friends.” one of the more important looking men was saying and Luhan was surprised to see that it was the foreign man who spoke next in a fluent yet accented conviction.

“The South has never been a threat as well. They can be antagonistic all they want but if they don’t have the power to back up their threats then we have no reason to fear.”

“They are afraid.” the King cuts in. “That is all. This marriage is merely their own response to the one between my son and Crown Princess Min. I have heard many things about this Princess Hun, she is only the youngest daughter of the western Emperor, he has seven other, older, daughters, and more than enough sons before that, she holds no significance. The match holds no threat to our people. “ 

“The west-” One of the ministers began to speak but the King cut him off. 

“I will not hear any more of this nonsense. This meeting is over.” 

Luhan admired how just the quiet subdued voice of his father could hold such authority and have the many respectable men in the room dip their heads in subservience. They filed out of the room obediently, even the foreign man with the cheshire grin. Luhan stood up to leave as well but his father stopped him.

“No, not yet. Sit, Luhan. Tell me what you think.”

The king was rubbing his temples, looking rather worn out. This is my future, Luhan thought to himself as he looked at his father. I will have to deal with this also.

“I...I don’t think the match is a threat either.” he stopped then, not sure of what else to say but his father looked at him and he felt the need to say more so he continued, hoping he sounded confident as he spoke. “The west values peace, no matter how strong they are, I’ve read in the history books as well. They always choose the peaceful way of doing things. The south is the complete opposite. I think the marriage may actually be good for us, the peaceful ways of the west might temper the fieriness of the southern prince.”

“Have you heard of him? This southern prince? The tall, handsome and hot-headed, I hear he is. Future King of their kingdom, as are you. My advisers, paranoid as they are, have a point that gets lost in their overzealousness. Any negative results of this engagement is likely to affect your reign more than it will mine. As future King, what do you think we should do?”

Luhan was stumped and he frowned.

“How is their betrothal any different from my own? If anything, mine is far more dangerous to theirs. As reclusive as the north is, they are the most powerful. We are all just mites beneath their feet. “

“And we have their princess.” The father continued his thought when he stopped and Luhan looked to the side shyly at the mention of his betrothed. “We are lucky that such an arrangement was approved by the northern Emperor and yet I hear...whispers…”

The king stopped speaking then but Luhan could fill in the blanks. “I apologize, Father.” he sank into a bow. “I will work harder to please the princess.” 

“See that you do.”

Luhan dared not look up, and when his father turned away from him he knew he was dismissed. Properly chastised, he made his way to the door but the voice of his father stopped him.

“You did well today, Luhan. I am proud of you.” 

Luhan smiled secretly to himself and stepped out of the room but that soon disappeared once the foreign man stepped out of one of pillars, blocking his way.

“Well you seem pleased with yourself, my prince.” the man added the last part like it was an afterthought, and if Luhan wasn’t so used to this treatment already he’d be offended but as things were, he let it slide.

“I am. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. What is your name, sir?” he asked as politely as he can muster and the man seemed visibly amused by that.

“Kim Jongdae at your service.” the man bowed to him 

 

Luhan cleared his voice and tried to sound sound as stern as he could. “ You may stand.” 

The man straightened up and curled his lip, revealing his perfect white teeth. 

“It seems that your skill in politics is blossoming, my prince. The princess could only wish your skill with courtship experiences the same awakening.” 

Luhan felt his eyebrow twitch, but the man continued to smile at him sweetly as if he didn’t just take a jab at him.He moved to brush past the man as he was lost on how to dismiss him, not too used to the way these people of the court played with words and with each other and this only seemed to make Kim Jongdae’s smile widen even more, the corners curling up.

“I hope I’ve not offended you, my prince?” the noble tilted his head as if he was innocent but Luhan knew better by now. 

“No.” Luhan said gruffly, trying not to pout and the other man took delight in this as he took several steps closer.

“Ah if only a prince such as you could have tutors in the art of courtship in the same way those stuffy ones have taught you of strategies, geography and language. If there was only someone well-versed in the ways of princesses, or of one princess in particular who could teach how to woo her properly.”

Luhan eyed the man disbelief as he approached, a realization dawning on him as he stuttered.

“Are you implying…” he said but Jongdae cut him off as the man inspected his nails off-handedly.

 

“Say if there was someone who had been her best friend since youth and had decided oh it’s not so very nice to see his dear friend being bombarded by failed attempts of romance by a very inexperienced suitor, he’d want to meet you in the library at noon to teach you how it’s done.”

 

“Why do you speak in riddles?” Luhan whined, fighting back the urge to stomp his feet as he grew tired of this man and the weird way he spoke already all while being in a state of disbelief at what was being offered to him.

 

Jongdae laughed and began to walk away from him, winking. “You’re fun to tease.”

 

 

 

Luhan didn’t know what to make of this Kim Jongdae but the opportunity to learn how to deal with the princess from one of her closest friends was too attractive of a deal to walk away from. This lead to Luhan being in the library at noon, just as Jongdae had told him to be. The library wasn’t a place that Luhan frequented, unless it was to meet with the various tutors that his parents had set on him in order to prepare him for the duties he would be taking on in the future. 

Jongdae wasn’t there yet and in the absence of anything to do, Luhan began to pace through the rows and rows of shelves, not really paying attention to where he was going. Not one to stay still, he soon found himself standing by the window overlooking the gardens and lo and behold, there she was. 

She was as fresh and as bright as ever, although her clothes were a lot less elaborate now that there was no scheduled meeting with the King and Queen. The lack of the excess jewelry and makeup only made her look more youthful. She only had one lady-in-waiting as her company and the effect on her was profound. 

She was laughing freely, all gummy smiles and little teeth, her cheeks bunching up and her eyes turning into little crescents. A few locks of her hair had escaped from her usual neat braid and the way they framed her face took Luhan’s breath away.

Struck with an intense desire to listen to her laugh, Luhan took a step forward, as if that would help, with the glass of the window between them and being on the second floor deterring Luhan from his goal.

“You look like a boy in love.” Luhan whirled around with a start, and there was Lord Kim Jongdae, leaning against the bookshelf with an amused smile on his face that Luhan was seriously beginning to hate.

“And you are.” He continued when it looked like Luhan wouldn’t be able to formulate a response as quick as the other man had wanted. Or maybe he just liked to listen to himself speak too much, Luhan thought with a bit of ire. “So quickly too, and yet you know nothing about her. It makes me wonder. Is this a passing fancy because of her face, or when you do get to know her and her charms will it wilt or bloom like a flower?”

Luhan spluttered, and yet again was left speechless. Because truly, he did not know either. His attraction had hit him like a lightning bolt and though it continued to grow day by day...he didn’t know if it could vanish just as quickly. He was impulsive, he knew that much about himself, and he had picked up many a hobby in his youth only to drop it once it had proven too hard and jumped into the next one with just as much zeal and passion as the first. 

Jongdae was stepping closer now looking over his face as his expression turned from amused to smug. Luhan hated when other people could read him so well. He frowned.

“It can’t just be a ‘passing fancy’” he protested vehemently, “We’re going to be married and there’s no changing that.” 

“There is.” Jongdae rebutted him with a tip of his head. “My King adores his only daughter, one word that she is unhappy with the match and she can be whisked back to our kingdom. There are many other ladies of lesser noble birth that the King can offer you from the north. It doesn’t have to be Min.” 

The concept of not marrying Princess Min was just too horrible of a thought to contemplate and he began to shake his head frantically.

“No. I can fix this.” There was a hint of desperation in his voice then and Jongdae picked up on him.

“I will help you. I don’t like seeing my friend unhappy. “ There was a glint in his eyes that said the words that didn’t need to be said. 

The moment Luhan broke the Princess’ heart will be the day Luhan’s stopped beating.

Jongdae would make sure of it.

 

 

 

 

The next time that Luhan met the princess was not planned at all. He had just come back from a day of riding, just to let off some steam. His thighs ached and his skin pulsed angrily at being left in direct contact with the sun for so long. He was transversing the hallways in a sorry state, the only thought occupying his mind was his absolute need for a nice warm bath. He was just thinking of calling on one of his maids to prepare one for him when the sound of music broke him out of his thoughts. It was a strange melody, one he never heard before, he followed it curiously, his tiredness forgotten, and it lead him straight into one of the larger rooms.

He peered through the doors and was immediately struck speechless.

She was dancing with a grace he had only seen a few dancers exhibit before then. Her movements, calculated, her turns precise and yet she seemed to almost flow along the room like a river personified. There was finesse there and a sense of experience Luhan knew could only be achieved through hours and hours of practice. 

This looked different from those strange couple dance lessons that were forced upon him by a matronly woman in his early days in the palace.

It was beautiful, and so was she.

It was the instrument players in the room who noticed him first, the princess only a beat later. Immediately Luhan felt his face begin to turn red in embarrassment as all the attention turned to him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He bowed and the fiddlers bowed as low as they could in an effort to not be placed higher than royalty., the Princess acknowledging him with a curtsy. She did not look pleased, but at the same time he knew she could not turn him away so blatantly. Not with the others in the room who could spread the word. Gossip in places like this could be very damaging. Luhan knew that first hand. 

“There is no need to apologize, your Highness.” She said evenly, a diplomatic smile on her face. Luhan wondered how she did it. He needed a lesson or two in smiling nicely in awkward situations, like now. 

“I’ll be going now.” He managed to stutter out next, his feet already going on auto-pilot, taking him a few steps away from where he really wanted to be.

“Don’t you want to watch, Your Highness?” the leader of the instrument players spoke up, on his face it was easy to see that he was just positively thrilled to have his music played for the two future rulers of the country. Luhan knew the man only wanted to please but it was all he could do to stop himself from cursing out the man for effectively cutting off his way of escape. Leaving now could be misconstrued as having no interest in the princess. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.  
A glance to the side showed Luhan that the perfect smile on Princess Min’s face had wavered only slightly at the unexpected invitation but it doubled in brightness a split-second after to compensate for the fact and if Luhan didn’t know any better he would think that the princess would like nothing better than for his presence with her at all times.

“An inspired idea, Jomi-shi.” She said with a flutter of her lashes that almost sent Luhan to the ground with a swoon. “Do sit, Prince Lu. I have been practicing this performance for quite a while and your opinion on it would be valued. Unless, you’re busy with something else perhaps?”

Luhan chose to ignore the hopeful tilt that the princess had added to her last sentence and quickly sat his ass down on one of the poufs closest to the band and perked up expectantly. Like the well-mannered lady that she was brought up to be, Princess Min didn’t let Luhan’s actions phase her and she whirled around to face the musicians, her skirts flaring out.

“From the beginning.” She ordered them in her soft voice in a way that made it sound more like a favor to her than an actual command and it was so effective that the audience before her tittered and fell over themselves in order to begin playing again. The strange melody filled the room once more and as the princess began to move to the flow of the music Luhan found himself utterly entranced. 

The performance ended far too soon for Luhan’s taste, he desperately wanted to see more of that elegance and grace that the princess exuded even now when she was simply just standing there and being fanned by her handmaiden. He gathered up the courage to approach her, Jongdae had told him that the princess was one who liked assertiveness. Luhan liked to think he was a very assertive man.

“That was amazing.” He told her sincerely. “”What was the song that you danced to? I never heard it before.” 

She looked up at him and graced him with a demure smile. “It is a song made by a musician in my father’s court, back home: Cherry Blossom.” she told him as she gathered up her skirts. He nose was scrunched up a little and Luhan suddenly remembered that he had jsut been out riding in the sun. He probably stunk of leather and sweat. He blushed and fought back the urge to sniff himself.

She bowed to him then, asking for his permission to leave so that she could retire to her quarters. Now, Luhan had never been a fan of etiquette, ranking and all the other trappings that came with being a sudden royal, but he found he had a new appreciation for it all just then. He knew the princess wouldn’t dare leave the room without his express permission, she wouldn’t want to be seen as rude to a royal in the country she’s visiting, especially in front of witnesses.

“Only if you promise to...uh...walk with me. Later. After tea time...through the gardens.” He said, not too eloquently as he was feeling more nervous with each word he spoke.”I want to get to know my fiance better.” He added belatedly after a pause. 

“If you wish it, Prince Lu.” She acquiesced with a smile, but the look in her eye was kind of scary, Luhan tried not to flinch. 

She swept from the room then, her entourage scurrying after and soon enough Luhan was left alone in the big room. Now, left alone in his thoughts and that last image of what must be the princess equivalent of a glare on Princess Min’s face, he wasn’t so sure if he should look forward to his tea time date or not.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Also posted on asianfanfics and wattpad under the same title but with different pseuds. 
> 
> can be found here ----> http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/977401/  
> and here ----> https://www.wattpad.com/story/43534612-the-taming-of-the-lu
> 
>  
> 
> this is just something i'm writing to see if i can still do it really because i haven't written in years. Your comments are much appreciated and very motivational for me to keep writing. I love you guys <3


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